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December 20, 2011

Top 30 401(k) Plans of 2011

Brightscope releases top 401(k) plans with at least $1 billion in assets

Some of the best plans are at airlines or with pilots unions. (Photo: AP)

Brightscope on Tuesday released its third annual list of the best 401(k) plans for 2011. These plans have at least $1 billion in assets as reported by plan sponsors and recordkeepers. Brightscope also uses publicly available data from the Department of Labor and the Securities and Exchange Commission in its analysis.

"There is no doubt that access to better evaluation tools and information on retirement plans has had a positive effect on the overall quality of plans available to employees," Mike Alfred, CEO and co-founder of BrightScope, said in a statement. "The average rating of the plans on this year’s Top 30 List increased more than 75 basis points over 2010. This tells us that plan sponsors are using data more effectively, conducting better due diligence, and making superior overall decisions."